TheLeviathan

I really don't want to target guys in A ball like Tait. If it's Philly....we need to be talking Painter, Abel, or Crawford as the main piece. I'm not looking to re-stock A-ball. The Twins have some promising guys advancing in AA and AAA now. That's who they should be supplementing at the deadline IMO.

Apparently.....yes. That's "exciting" from what I understand.

Great article with great comps! Relievers have high fluctuation rates in performance. The Twins have shown to be able to turn guys into great back-end relievers. This is where you deal from a strength, to get a haul, and expand your chances in the future. Trade Stewart. Trade Columbe. Trade Jax or Duran. Also, as an aside, I would really like Dan Hayes to reveal who he's hearing the "we won't trade for prospects, only a major league impact bat" buzz from. I'd like to personally try and get that person fired for the wild level of incompetence they display.

I've seen all I need to from France. He's cooked.....I wouldn't be shocked if he got DFA'd when Keaschall comes back.

I like the target and the Twins really do need another option there, but for Castro? I'm hoping for a bit more.

I could see Houston recognizing that they aren't a long-term team to sit at the big boy table either. Philly might get jealous of the monopoly money the Mets toss around too. A winning argument doesn't mean those teams can't still have an advantage, just that we cap how enormous that advantage is. I think they can get to 24, but it's going to be a war.

Well, if what is said here is true about Ishbia, that eliminates the line of argument some were making that there was no truth to those and it was all feeling out/for show. But I'm with others here.....until there is a media day introducing new owners.....I won't believe it.

Good linemen are hard to find and teams are recognizing the need to have them to go up against the freaks of nature we're employing along the defensive line.

Maybe they want them gone as much as we do?

We literally have a thread right now where someone is arguing that "Do Nothing" is the way and those of us wanting to sell are in the wrong. The Twins organization has won the propaganda war with its own fans. Stagnation is ideal because we've given up on the hope of buying entirely and even selling is seen as "too risky" We're doomed.

I'm not on board with trading Ryan right now. (I might be with Ober or Lopez if they were healthy, but that is not the case) I am, however, on board with dealing one of the relievers. (In addition to Stewart and Columbe) Paddock, Duran, Stewart, Columbe, Castro, and Bader is going to net you quite an array of young talent. This team NEEDS cheap, young, controllable talent. Particularly on the position player side. (Others are making this point well, kudos to them) Let's take the Brewers as an example: How did the Brewers get their all-star catcher? In part by trading Josh Hader. (Also, look at the haul Sean Murphy got for the A's as part of that) Their current SS was from trading Corbin Burnes. Their current starting 3B was from trading reliever Devin Williams. Ace Freddy Peralta? Traded for by dumping Adam Lind. Priester and Patrick in their rotation? Trades. (Not dumps, just savvy moves) Closer Trevor Megill....well we know all about that one don't we? Nick Mears and Grant Anderson? Savvy trades. This board is so scared to move on from players....but trading is the lifeblood of a lower revenue baseball team. Selling when you need to sell, exchanging depth for need. These simply HAVE to happen. Yeah, you have to develop too, but good teams know when to move assets to build their team. I said it in the other thread to Nick....doing nothing is the WORST thing an organization like the Twins could do. I'd rather they swing and miss at trades than spin their wheels.

Maybe they're trying to politely, passive-aggressively kick the team towards selling? You know, not actively calling us to ask......just lurking in our press boxes quietly staring at us.

You brought in "deviating the message" - there is truth that ownership impacts might be exaggerated in normal circumstances. But in terms of the "message" the team and fans are getting - there is no overstatement here. Ownership is THE issue when it comes to that. It is the reason they won't buy at the deadline. It's the reason fans are checked out. I can't imagine it has no impact in the clubhouse. My emphasis on the ownership is due to your emphasis on changing the message. Until the team sells....that ain't happening. Since you didn't make an actual argument againt that, I assume you agree. But let's not pretend disagreement then and spin the argument. Now, that out of the way.....Is this where I get to take your conclusion (which might be right - they may do nothing. The worst of all possible outcomes IMO, but absolutely on brand) and ask how it "excites" you? You know, frame your conclusion as if that's what you want your team's July plan to be every year? I don't want to sell because it excites me. I want to sell because having enough talent for what I actually want (a legit contender) is going to require adding more cheap talent. A middling, go-nowhere season seems like a good time to try that. Doing nothing literally does nothing to help that.

These feel like deliberately unfair arguments. You're over-emphasizing May and underemphasizing June. Then end with overemphasizing recency bias. Also inflating the value of a one game playoff game as a measuring stick. Let's cut to the meat of the problem, though, shall we? Is ownership going to flood the front office with money to buy at the deadline? I mean, if that's the argument you're making and you want to tell us all you think the team is truly going to "deviate their messaging" - let's hear you make that case. But, I should note, they didn't make that decision last year in a significantly better position. They didn't this offseason. This ownership group has almost never done it in decades of existence. (Some peanuts for Bader or Columbe better not be the comeback. C'mon, let's be serious) So what does a reasonable Twins fan truly have to choose between? They will not be buying in the next three weeks. To refer to your first paragraph - the messaging isn't going to deviate. This is still an ownership group half-assing their way through things. So given that reality....yes...I would rather give up on what looks like an 80ish win season and add cheap talent. Because we sure as hell know that the only kind of talent we have a chance of adding will have to be cheap. Or we do nothing, fiddle around .500, lose players for nothing, and continue to spin our wheels. Exciting....is that what I'm supposed to feel about the alternative? I'll end with this: I conclude we need to sell not out of some grand idea about the bounty of prospects we'll get. I conclude this not because it "excites" me to get someone's 12th best prospect. I conclude this because ownership isn't going to give me, as a fan, any other way of hoping for more. Without more shots at cheap talent in the years ahead, we'll continue this misery of mediocrity. It is resignation to the reality of the organization. Frankly, I'm not sure how any avid fan can conclude anything else.

I'm 100% with you. It's nice to see some good baseball played recently, but that doesn't mean I'm confusing this team with a contender. Going forward....this team has Ryan, Ober, Lopez, Zebby, Festa, SWR and in the wings guys like Raya, Prielepp, Morris, and Culpepper. Even if they trade Jax or Duran they have proven to be able to keep making relievers work. Keaschall, Jenkins, E-Rod, Lee, Buxton, Correa, Culpepper, Sabato, Lewis, Wallner, Larnach are the position players. There are some dudes there....but they need help. I don't know how else you get that other than by trading. Selling now gives you lottery tickets to boost this group. So go trade the 4-6 expiring contracts and get a bunch of young lottery tickets. If even one becomes a player you turned nothing (other than two months of pretending) into something.

I never thought we'd see the day that he got this healthy. I guess easing into his years of "old man strength", was what Byron's body needed to play every day. This guy is one of the best in baseball, happy for him he's finally getting to live it out for our entertainment.

Make baseball fun!!!! This sport works so freaking hard to feel like the turtleneck sweater of sports. Instead we got three days of awesome vibes. Just dudes having fun, cracking jokes, and Audra egging them on perfectly. Provus is talented and funny himself, he absolutely could ringmaster this kind of vibe on a nightly basis. We don't need all of this stuff every night, but the vibe could be there each and every day. This is how baseball reaches kids and casuals. This is how it trends on social media. It's literally what has made the Savannah Bananas into the money making juggernaut it is today. Embrace the success of this Twins!

If nothing else this is starting to tip that Polanco trade to a clear win for the Twins. (Since largely the other pieces were lose-lose for both teams)

Happy to see Jenkins on this list. I was wondering if it would be him or Gabriel Gonzalez. (Who is absolutely crushing it this year)

I wish no such thing! Sell baby sell! (I actually like where this team could be in a year or two if they make the right moves. But I like it a lot less if they stand pat in hopes of a one game playoff)

Well, I think Wallner and Larnach represent different cases. Wallner deserves more chances, but I think how lost he's looked in general has not helped his cause. (Though last year that shouldn't have been the case when he was raking) Larnach was never good at it and I feel like his pedigree/luster had really worn off by the time he was even a regular player. Jenkins? Splits aren't good so far. But he's an elite prospect, he needs to work through it. Even if that means at the major league level. E-Rod's splits are a bit more erratic but much more positive. He's a dude who should get a chance.

Here's another example...I understand why Pittsburgh has continued to try and help O'Neil Cruz be an everyday player. But at some point you accept that the guy is just best not to have out there if you can prevent it. Pitt is last in the league in this category because he's sub .500 OPS against lefties and his career split is now fairly robust (300+ ABs at .588) that it might be time to pull that plug more often.

It's true that the Twins are particularly bad at this. But it's also true this is driven overwhelmingly by the choice to do this with Larnach: It's also worth nothing, that the majority of the league is sub .700 in these matchups, which speaks to be being mostly a bad idea to enact. Is it smart for the Cubs to try and help PCA work through his struggles? Hell yeah. Andres Giminez in Toronto (though his career split is actually ok) or Larnach here? That seems silly and counterproductive.